A note from our founder: Why I started Bloom & Grow
(Before I was ready)
Hi! I’m Nicole.
Founder of We are Bloom & Grow! I want to jump straight into
it. As Bloom & Grow is raw and real,
so why not embrace that from the get-go?
Bloom & Grow is 2 fundamentals - faith &
formation. They are two things that continuously shape me,
and things I felt were missing when I was struggling with anxiety,
addiction, and depression.
These pillars have individually - and simultaneously -
changed my life in unimaginable ways. And they continue to do so.
Faith
I’m 27 years old and I became a Christian at age 24. Long story short, I wasn’t brought up in a
Christian home, my first experience of a belief system was occult practices and
spell nights.
When I was 4, I ran away from home around 5:00am one cold,
quiet morning. I was found by a lady
named Rose who took me and my 2-year-old brother into her Christian
bookshop. She gave us some juice,
biscuits and a children’s bible and got us home safely.
Despite this situation happening and having fond experiences
of church with friends from school, I didn’t really find a connection with God.
I always felt different from my peers, so I started drinking
around 14 years old to numb and self-medicate.
I lived a life of living for the weekend, and I became severely anxious
and depressed thinking things would never change.
One day I called out to Jesus in a dark moment when I
was addicted to alcohol and worshipping ‘the universe’, I was flooded by the
Holy spirit, chills all over my body and overwhelming peace. I realised that Jesus truly never left me – from
the day forward I started my sobriety journey and 2 years later I got baptised.
So, this being the thing that saved me, Faith had to
be the foundation of Bloom & Grow, as this is what became the centre of my
life.
Formation
I read the word ‘formation’ on a poster opposite Joe &
the Juice whilst working on Bloom & Grow one Saturday and felt the Lord
prompting me... this is a pillar for Bloom & Grow!
The concept of Formation is woven throughout scripture. God is the Potter, and we (People) are the
clay. Isaiah 64:8 – “Yet you, Lord,
are our Father. We are the clay, you are the potter; we are all the work of
your hand.” Meaning God actively shapes and forms us, sometimes through trials,
experiences, and guidance, just as a potter molds clay into a vessel.
Another scripture that comes to mind when it comes to
Formation is Romans 12:2 – “Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but
be transformed by the renewing of your mind.”
Formation involves internal change, aligning thoughts,
desires, and actions with God’s will. It’s about renewal and sanctification. Formation is also training and discipline and
it makes me think of being formed into Christlikeness.
Bloom & Grow isn’t just its blog or its products. It’s about blooming and growing in your
relationship with God. It’s about
breaking worldly patterns and forming Christlike ones. It’s about being different and realising we
are called to be set apart. Jesus
never leaves the one behind. This is
our ethos and everyONE is welcome. Come as you are. Be formed into the person Christ called you
to be. Just you & Him.
Why didn’t I feel ready?
Discomfort isn’t something us humans naturally desire. It’s something a lot of us tend to avoid trying
to preserve our peace, perhaps as a form of control. I can be a huge control freak, so launching a
business that I felt 1. Called to create and 2. Passionate about. Felt super uncomfortable. Not because it was a lot of work but because
I couldn’t control the results.
Being comfortable could mean several things. It could mean missing out of becoming who God
is calling you to be. For me it meant missing
out on building a community where women felt seen, understood and loved. It meant not fulfilling things that truly
could make a difference.
Jesus lived a whole life of discomfort – from being born in
a manager in an animals’ food troth, to being homeless, to helping others
whilst being ridiculed and mocked, to sacrificing himself to save humanity. God
isn’t asking us to run from life – He’s inviting us to be formed by it. He
will comfort us. He will be gentle and
kind while we grieve the things that we left behind for a season in order for
us to grow.
One thing I learned during the evolution of Bloom & Grow
was to know Jesus and truly follow Him is to surrender it all. I realised whilst I was studying the bible, spending
time in the church, even helping out on an Alpha course I had one hand gripped
onto old ways of thinking and living, despite thinking I’d left these behind,
and the other reaching out to Jesus. Now
I’m asking the Lord to guide me to surrender.
I’ve never regretted stepping forward into the next stage of
life because some of these things have been great blessings, lessons, learning
curves and God-centred relationships. That would have never come to fruition if
I hadn’t of pushed through the barrier. So,
Bloom & Grow came to fruition through discomfort, anxiety and the timing
not feeling quite right. It feels so
guided by God and I wasn’t going to let my human desires get in the way of
something God was forming.
If you’ve read this — thank you.
I’m excited for us to go on this journey together.
No matter your beliefs, your past, or your current
circumstances — you are welcome here. Bloom & Grow exists to help you grow
into your full potential, into who God is calling you to be.
The world teaches us to compare, to strive, to chase the
next thing. My prayer is that through Bloom & Grow you would begin to fall
in love with yourself as you are — fearfully and wonderfully made — rediscover
joy, and bloom and grow into a God-fearing, joyful, Spirit-filled woman.
Just you & Him.
